Room signal for visibly indicating information



July 9, 1957 J. J. MONTALTO 2,798,320

ROOM SIGNAL FOR VISIBLY INDICATING INFORMATION Filed June 10, 1954 llHlmh.

A TTORNEY United States RooM SIGNAL non` VISIBLY INDICATING iNFoRMArIoN James J. Montalto, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Application June 10, 1954, Serial No. 435,740

1 Claim. (Cl. 40-67) This invention relates to a signal device, and particularly relates to a device which provides visible notice ofexisting conditions with respect to a particular room, such as in a doctors otlce.

In many doctors oices a number of rooms are used to place different patients for consulation, examination, treatments, etc., the patients being placed according to appointments by nurses who attempt to keep the doctors advised as to which patients shall receive what kind of attention in some degree of order or sequence. Very often a doctor will emerge from one of these rooms only to be confused as to which patient should receive attention next, with resultant vexing loss of valuable time.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved signal device adapted to be installed on a wall in a doctors office, one device for each room in the otlce, by which through cooperation of the usual nursing staff the doctor may comprehend at a glance the status of the patient in each room, whereby much of the doctors time is saved and the patients are cared for more eiciently and expeditiously.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawings.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a signal device embodying the features of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section, taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Figure 1. i

Figure 4 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, illustrating the device in use.

Referring to the drawings generally, the numeral designates a relatively thick, rectangular body or frame, of wood, molded plastic or other suitable rigid material, the same having at one end thereof a series of laterally spaced vertical slots 11, 11 which are shown extending inwardly to the full thickness of the frame 10. Pivoted in the slots, on a common pivot rod 12, may be a series of arms 13, 13 having at, circular enlargements 14 on the outer ends thereof adapted to be in planes of the swinging movement of the arms, at right angles to the plane of the frame 10. In retracted position of the arms they extend vertically upwardly at a rearward inclination to the vertical, or past dead center, so that they will tend to stay in that position, with the enlargements 14 engaging the wall on which the device is mounted and out of sight within the respective slots. For signalling purposes each arm 13 extends horizontally in a stop position, against the top edge of a face plate 15, of metal, plastic, or wood, suitably attached to the front of the frame 10 to cover the slots at a point slightly below the pivot rod 12. For releasably retaining the arms in the slots, a spring clip 16 or equivalent means may be pro- Patented July 9, 1957 vided on each arm 13 to be resiliently engageable between opposite sides of the slots.

Each arm 13,` considering the retracted position thereof, may have a downward and lforward extension 17, projected through an opening 18 in face plate 15, adapted to be manually depressible to swing the arm to thehorizontal position thereof.V The enlargements 14 of the arms 13 may have visibly distinguishable indicia W, B, Y, G and R thereon, such as the colors white, black, yellow, green and red, for purposes to be described later, and outward projections 19 of the arm extensions 17 may have corresponding indicia on the same.

The frame 10, adjacent one side of the series of slots 11, 11, may be provided with a deep recess 20 of substantial length, opening from the top of the frame, and adapted to receive form cards or papers of the usual type containing information about the doctors patients.

In use of the invention one frame 10 is mounted as by means of screws 21, on a wall beside the door to each examination or consulting room in a doctors ofce, the wall, in the instance of the structure shown, being adapted to close the back of the slots 11 and cardreceiving recess 20. A nurse supervising and caring for a patient in a given room will then depress one of the colored projections 19 in accordance with a predetermined plan of signalling by reference to colors, thereby to lower a corresponding arm 13 to the horizontal stop position shown in Figure 4 and expose the correspondingly colored enlargement 14. The doctor upon emerging from one room may then look -along a hall or corridor and determine, by means of the exposed colored enlargements 14 on the signalling devices beside the other room doors, the substantially exact condition of each patient in the respective rooms. As an example of a typical signalling system the colors white, black, yellow, green, and red, may be used to designate Emergency Patient, Doctor Not Required for Patient or Room Occupied by Doctor, Nurse in Room with Patient, Patient in Readiness for Doctor, and Patient Being Prepared for Doctor. As the doctor enters the appropriate room he removes the patients card or papers from the recess 20 and ips the exposed signal enlargement 14 into its slot 11. If desired either the doctor or the nurse may expose the yellow signal to indicate that the respective patient is being cared for.

Thus has been provided an improved signalling device which is simple and economical to produce, and easy to operate as described.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A room signal device as for attachment on a vertical wall structure to indicate given information, comprising a housing portion of substantially broad lateral area compared with the thickness between front and back faces thereof, said housing having a plurality of laterally spaced recesses in vertical planes and extending inwardly from the front wall face of the housing portion, an arm pivotally mounted in each said recess to extend upwardly in a retracted position therein and being swingable in a said vertical plane, each said arm having a signal element at the upper end of the same normally unexposed within its said recess, said elements of the various said arms having distinguishing indicia on the same, wall portions being provided on the front face of said housing overlying the lower portions of said recesses and providing upwardly presented stop shoulders, said arms being independently swingable forwardly to stop engagement with said stop Shoulders in which the respective said elements are exposed forwardly of said front wall face, said Wall portions having openings beneath said stop shoulders, each said arm having an angular exten.-

the `respective saidrrsignal element, Veach said extension thereby being depressible rearwardly of the housing to swing the respetive arm thereof forwardly and thereby lexpose the element of the same; theindicia of said elements bengvisibly distinguishablel at a substantial distance to indicate said given information.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Taboney Oct. 23, 1877 Black Dec. 10, 1918 Glover Sept. 8, V1925 Ditzler Mar. 31, 1931 

